We report a broad, new class of metal-catalyzed C-C bond formations - the direct C-C coupling of alcohols and ?-unsaturated compounds. These processes enable carbonyl addition from the alcohol oxidation level and provide access to chiral building blocks that are typically prepared using stoichiometric quantities of pre-metallated nucleophiles (e.g. allylmetal reagents). However, unlike classical approaches, the alcohol C-C coupling processes we report circumvent discrete redox manipulations required for generation of aldehyde electrophiles, and they avoid the generation of molar quantities of metallic byproducts. Here, we propose the first systematic investigations into alcohol-unsaturated C-C coupling and demonstrate how such processes dramatically simplify the synthesis of polyketide natural products, which are an important class of FDA-approved therapeutic agents. Established Catalytic Enantioselective Processes OH [Ir (cod) Cl] 2 (2.5 mol%) OH AcO (R)-Cl,MeO-BIPHEP (5 mol%) R R m-NO2BzOH (10 mol%) Cs2CO3 (20 mol%) 100 mol% 10 equiv. THF (0.2 M), 100 oC 51-83% Yield or 200 mol% 86-95% ee Proposed Catalytic Enantioselective Processes OH MLn (cat.) Diverse R2 R1 Unsaturates R1 Chiral Ligand Me or Modifier From Olefins R2 OH [Ir(cod)Cl]2 (2.5 mol%) OH AcO (S)-SEGPHOS (5 mol%) R R Me 4-CN-3-NO2BzOH (10 mol%) Me Cs2CO3 (20 mol%) 100 mol% 200 mol% THF (1.0 M), 90 oC 61-73% Yield 86-97% ee 5:1-8:1dr OH R2 OH OH OH R2 R1 R1 R1 R2 R1 Me R2 R3 R3 Me From Dienes From Allenes From Alkynes From Enynes R2 R2 R2 R2 R3 R3